Thinking of a Career in Graphic Design?

Being a graphic designer is great. You can make a lot of money but everybody assumes you’re poor and therefore doesn’t ask you for anything, so it’s the best of both worlds. Just don’t start your own graphic design company / studio / agency / firm because then everyone will assume you’re rich when in fact it will be your employees getting rich and not you.

A myth commonly held by those outside the design industry is that you can’t make any money. Many people believe that anyone associated with something artistic is starving and destitute. How much money can you make as a graphic designer? My evidence is anecdotal, but from what I’ve seen here in Utah a good designer can make $50-60K per year. A great designer, by Utah standards, can make $80K and perhaps six figures. Even a lame designer can make $30-40K here, but I’d prefer not to talk about designers with no skills because that’s not who you are, right?

Which brings me to my next point–start competing against the best right now. I only took one year of art/design classes, but during that year I learned from one of the best art teachers, let alone professors, Leon Parson, and while I’ve long forgotten most of what he taught, I remember this one thing he said, that if we wanted to be successful, we had to start competing against the best of the best while still students–we couldn’t wait until we were out of school or it would be too late. The next day I switched to being a business major. But I jest.

The point is that if you’re going to graphic design school then don’t expect to get paid much if you can’t hit the ground running straight out of school. The world of graphic design is wonderful in that it’s all about what you can do because what you can do is easy to show off. If you’ve got the skills and a good design portfolio then you’ll get paid, and paid well. But if a firm has to train you for 2-3 years in order to get you up to speed then obviously they’re not going to be wanting to pay you big bucks.

If you’re a design student who will be looking for full-time employment within the next year I’d highly recommend you get yourself a website. As an employer of designers I don’t like reading resumes too much. I generally don’t look at CDs that are mailed to me. I don’t like PDFs very much either, altough they’re not that bad. But by far the best way to show me what you can do is to set up a good design website that shows off your work.